28 Here is another message given to me from the Lord:
2-3 “Son of dust, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘The Lord God says: You are so proud you think you are God, sitting on the throne of a god on your island home in the midst of the seas. But you are only a man and not a god, though you boast yourself to be like God. You are wiser than Daniel, for no secret is hidden from you. 4 You have used your wisdom and understanding to get great wealth—gold and silver and many treasures. 5 Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich and very proud.’”
6 Therefore the Lord God says: “Because you claim that you are as wise as God, 7 an enemy army, the terror of the nations, shall suddenly draw their swords against your marvelous wisdom and defile your splendor! 8 They will bring you to the pit of hell, and you shall die as those pierced with many wounds, there on your island in the heart of the seas. 9 Then will you boast as a god? At least to these invaders you will be no god, but merely man! 10 You will die like an outcast at the hands of foreigners. For I have spoken it,” the Lord God says.
11 Then this further message came to me from the Lord:
12 “Son of dust, weep for the king of Tyre.[a] Tell him, ‘The Lord God says: You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God; your clothing was bejeweled with every precious stone—ruby, topaz, diamond, chrysolite, onyx, jasper, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald—all in beautiful settings of finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. 14 I appointed you to be the anointed Guardian Angel. You had access to the holy mountain of God. You walked among the stones of fire.[b]
15 “‘You were perfect in all you did from the day you were created until that time when wrong was found in you. 16 Your great wealth filled you with internal turmoil, and you sinned. Therefore, I cast you out of the mountain of God like a common sinner. I destroyed you, O Guardian Angel, from the midst of the stones of fire.[c] 17 Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. Therefore, I have cast you down to the ground and exposed you helpless before the curious gaze of kings. 18 You defiled your holiness with lust for gain;[d] therefore, I brought forth fire from your own actions* and let it burn you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all those watching you. 19 All who know you are appalled at your fate; you are an example of horror; you are destroyed forever.’”
20 Then another message came to me from the Lord:
21 “Son of dust, look toward the city of Sidon and prophesy against it. Say to it, 22 ‘The Lord God says: I am your enemy, O Sidon, and I will reveal my power over you. When I destroy you and show forth my holiness upon you, then all who see shall know I am the Lord. 23 I will send an epidemic of disease and an army to destroy; the wounded shall be slain in your streets by troops on every side. Then you will know I am the Lord. 24 No longer shall you and Israel’s other neighbor nations prick and tear at Israel like thorns and briars, though they formerly despised her and treated her with great contempt.
25 “‘The people of Israel will once more live in their own land, the land I gave their father Jacob. For I will gather them back again from distant lands where I have scattered them, and I will show the nations of the world my holiness among my people. 26 They will live safely in Israel and build their homes and plant their vineyards. When I punish all the bordering nations that treated them with such contempt, then they shall know I am the Lord their God.’”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 28:12 weep for the king of Tyre. In this passage (vv. 11-19) some descriptive phrases apply to a human king of Tyre, and some seem to apply to Satan. Great care therefore must be taken to apply these verses with discernment.
- Ezekiel 28:14 You walked among the stones of fire. Probably a symbol of the Angels.
- Ezekiel 28:16 O Guardian Angel, from the midst of the stones of fire, or “and the guardian cherub drove you out from the midst of the stones of fire.”
- Ezekiel 28:18 with lust for gain, literally, “in the unrighteousness of your trade.” I brought forth fire from your own actions, literally, “I brought fire from the midst of you.”